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Professor Stephen Hawking, 1942-2018: obituary

Hawking was already recognised as a tour-de-force in academic circles but came to the public attention during the 1980s when his book A Brief History of Time became a multi-million selling must-have entry on any bookshelf, remaining in the Sunday Times bestseller list for a record 237 weeks.

As he himself later admitted, there was a certain gulf between the number of copies sold and the number of copies read, because while it was a pioneering work in explaining quantum physics to a mass audience, it wasn't exactly an easy read for the layman.

While continuing his work in unlocking the mysteries of the universe, Hawking was catapulted to a celebrity status, thanks not only to his brilliant mind but his unique appearance and computer-generated voice that made him instantly recognisable.

As a result, not only did he become a regular fixture on the lecture circuit and as a voice of academia, but his often wicked sense of humour lent itself to cameo appearances on TV and radio shows including the Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, Star Trek: The Next Generation and, most recently, as the voice of The Guide Mark II in a new instalment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on BBC Radio Four.

More recently, his outspoken views on the dangers of artificial intelligence and contacting aliens have been brought to the fore in the tech industry, while his hook up with Microsoft, Intel, and Swiftkey, which allowed him to continue to articulate in his later years via a single cheek muscle, became a beacon of what new technology could do for anyone who struggled with a keyboard and mouse.

And, he achieved all this while suffering from the debilitating effects of Motor Neurone Disease, diagnosed at the age of just 21, which left him wheelchair-bound and speaking with a voice synthesiser.

While it would be wrong to ignore this aspect of his persona completely - Hawking was tipped into depression for a period of time after diagnosis - Hawking never allowed it to define him.

That is except to say that for every budding physicist he inspired, he also inspired someone with a disability to live their life to the full.

His paradigm-shifting work of black holes, which led to the discovery of the so-called ‘Hawking Radiation', will always be one of his biggest achievements, he also had a strong sense of humour.

In an interview with US comedian and talkshow host John Oliver, when asked if, given that there are an infinite number of universes, if there is one where he was more intelligent than Hawking, he replied, "yes, and also one where you're funny".

On another occasion when asked what his biggest regrets were, he explained that it was never getting to run over Margaret Thatcher's foot.

Colleagues also refer to his knack for visual humour, recalling seemingly reckless driving of his electric wheelchair mostly aimed at scaring whoever he was aiming for, but perfectly in control.